In March, foldable bicycles will be allowed on board trains and buses during off-peak periods under a six-month trial. There will also be more and better bike parking, and cyclists will be able to access public transport via park connectors.

Chu Wa has been cycling to work for ages (read his well commented blog post here) and has always brought his foldable bike up the MRT as suggested by their CEO years ago. The bus bit though, is entirely new and pleasant news.

44 Cyclists are another group that we will facilitate. There is a growing interest in cycling, with more people cycling for recreation, or to get around the neighbourhood.

45 We invited some of them to our land transport review focus group discussions to see how we could better cater to their needs. Some cyclists asked for more bicycle stands around our bus and MRT stations. Others made the point that some foldable bicycles were not much bigger than prams, so why not allow them onboard our trains and buses?

46 Responding to this, LTA together with the public transport operators will launch a six-month trial from March 2008 to allow cyclists to carry their foldable bicycles on board trains and buses. LTA will also work with NParks and other agencies to leverage on the park connectors to enable cyclists to get to public transport interchanges more easily. Bicycle parking facilities at the MRT stations and bus interchanges in housing estates will be improved.

47 The cyclists also shared their ‘war stories’ and asked us to help improve safety on our roads. Following a pilot in Changi, LTA will put up signs to alert motorists to the presence of cyclists along frequently used cycling routes such as those in West Coast and Thomson from March 08. LTA and the Traffic Police have also started a trial to allow cycling on pedestrian footways in Tampines.

48 But at the end of the day, it is also an issue of mutual accommodation – for the motorists to look out for cyclists on the road; and for cyclists to have a care for pedestrians.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Since 2005 many of us have kept our eyes peeled even on our familiar routes. The price of steel shot up due to the construction boom in China and this created a lucrative scrap steel market. I first heard about this from a Malaysian friend and by August 2005 the phenomenon was reported from our shores.

This demand took care of my old steel bike, the "Champion Du Monde" which had been left hanging around campus in want of an owner.

I have also seen the the occasional gap and had a couple of near shaves. Enough to keep me alert. Well here is another reminder not to let our guard down just yet.

SINGAPORE: Police arrested a scrap metal seller on Wednesday after he made a transaction that raised eyebrows.

The 39-year-old man had sold 1,050 kilograms of loose metals, drain gratings and reinforced metal bars to a dealer at Defu Industrial Estate on 9 January.

Officers from the Ang Mo Kio Police Division were alerted to this during a routine check on second-hand goods dealers.

Through records maintained by the dealer, police were able to identify and ambush the suspect at a metal recycling shop in Woodlands Industrial Park.

He was found with six bars of reinforced metal weighing a total of 700kg.

The suspect will be charged in court on 11 January with "fraudulent possession of property" under Chapter 184 for Fraudulent Possession of Property, in Section 35(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.

Under the Second-hand Goods Dealer Act 2007, which came into effect on 1 December 2007, second-hand goods dealers trading in items listed in the Schedule of the Act, such as copper, stainless steel, aluminium, steel or brass, or a composite of such metals, are to keep proper records on sellers of such metals.

Dealers of such metals are also required to make payment to sellers of scrap metals using only crossed cheques. - CNA/vm